The Live Stage was SOOOOO much better than the silver screen...

Well, the movies were took up far too large a suckage quota for 2013, so let’s talk about something a little bit nicer and let’s look back at the year in live theater around our local area. This’ll come off as a bit biased since I usually only attend shows at the Paper Wing Theatre on a regular basis, but I’ll try to touch base on other shows that I’d either seen or heard about throughout the course of the year. There were plenty of shows vying over my hard-earned entertainment coin and I don’t want those efforts to go to waste without mention. And since I have a soapbox set off in a little private corner of the World Wide Web, I may as well shout a bit. Right? I mean I’m no different than any other ranting lunatic blog.

So let’s cut to the quick: I was broken, shattered, peeled open, exposed, and forced to laugh while soaking in a puddle of tears when the Paper Wing Theatre presented “Mr. Bruce, Do You Swear?” and Jodi Gilmore’s performance left me with plenty of thoughts, opinions, vulgarities, and a desire to express myself as vividly as possible. The play was a look back at Lenny Bruce and the struggle he faced when performing all those years ago with all those terrible words. Rob Foster’s script is available through Amazon and is a terrific read, but the live performance is where it’s at for absolute certain. This show is what live theater is all about- the human experience and the conflicts we face in the world.

Later in the year, Paper Wing again tackled some controversy when they opened Macbeth with a decidedly non-traditional approach that incorporated gothic-punk fashion and music. Several strong performances and direction from Jourdain Barton brought Shakespeare to life and made it accessible for a different audience than the Bard would usually attract. My wife also made her own theatrical debut with this show, and I did get a program credit for helping with some of the special effects.

And following up his performance as the title character in Macbeth, Patrick Golden once again delivered a strong performance as Grant Mazzy in Stardust Theater’s production of “Pontypool”. This bizarre twist on the zombie apocalypse delivered the frights for the Halloween season and made for one of a few outings to the theaters outside of Paper Wing.

Beyond the shows I saw, there were also the shows I didn’t see- Spamalot and Les Miserables fell outside my price range but were two big productions in the local area that I really wanted to see. I heard nothing but great things about them so I wanted to make sure they got little mentions. There was also the Wharf Theater’s production of “Pirates of Penzanze” that I also missed, but more because of scheduling conflicts and my inability to find the time and the money for that period of time. I’m extremely lucky in that the local theatrical performances in my area are really starting to battle over my patronage coins. Well, not JUST mine, but you get the idea.

Returning to Paper Wing and the performances I /did/ get to see, I could be wrong but I felt like the theater opened their season with a bang in “9 to 5: The Musical” with some terrific performances and an ambitious moving set. Their Gallery theater presented  a variety of shows, from the sadomasochism comedy of “Big Baby” to heart-wrenching disolution of a marriage in “The Last Five Years”, the aforementioned “Mr. Bruce”, “Macbeth”, and their Halloween crowd-pleaser “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” of which I was in the audience a number of nights throughout the run. LJ Brewer continues to drop jaws and thrill the blood system with his performance of Doctor Frank N Furter- and then I got to help close the year with by performing in their production of “Bob’s Holiday Office Party”, my only performance in the year but one many are going to find hard to forget. 

Here's to 2014! 

Years best... 2013

We are looking back at the past year in films and such.It kinda' sucked in case you wondered... and here's my top ten of the list, starting with my favorite movie of the past year.

1.      The Worlds’ End:

The final installment to Edgar Wrights’ “Cornetto” trilogy reunites Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for an alien invasion story about men who have gone past the ripe age of 40. Pegg’s performance is absolutely brilliant and it’s interesting to see Frost play the straight man in what seems like a role reversal from previous films. The film featured pro-wrestling maneuvers, alien robot decapitations, music from “Sisters of Mercy”, and everything I could have possibly hoped for. The film tops this year’s offerings from every major studio and delivered some of the most heart-wrenching moments for this theater goer.

2.      John Dies at the End:

I had to miss the theatrical release or it may have been number one on my list… I’m including it as number two because it was one of the best movies released this past year and touched every button I had. It was horrifying, comedic, and twisted- by far one of the best films ever from Indie director Don Coscarelli. John and Dave are definitely one of the best “buddy” duos in fiction today and it’s definitely a great gateway drug to the Soy Sauced world of David Wong brilliantly written book series.

3.      Evil Dead (remake)

Say what you will about the hackneyed writing or it’s failure to live up to the previous movies expectations, Evil Dead was still one of the most fun experiences I had at the movies and even saw it twice. It was gory, ridiculous, horrifying, disgusting, and it just hit a lot of perfect notes for me. It didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, so it makes the list by not even making the attempt. It was just a solid scare flick through and through.

4.      Pacific Rim:

Giant robots fighting giant monsters who ransack and destroy major cities throughout the world. Hell yeah… and with a solid popcorn munching “be proud of the human race” kind of script that peppers the story with major “rah rah” moments, this movie was one of the most satisfying experiences I had at the theater this year.

5.      Star Trek: Into Darkness

My fifth film on the list and I feel kind of awkward about it- it was a good film, and it hit a lot of the right notes, but it’s not really much more than a popcorn muncher for me. My wife, however, loved it… I’ve never seen her go out of a way to secure the DVD-Bluray release of a movie quite as quickly as she scooped this one up. That’s worth a nudge above number six-

6.      Thor: The Dark World

The sequel to the blockbuster sensation that was Thor and a follow up film to the successful Avengers franchise, Thor returns to earth and does battle with Dark Elves and stuff happens and things blow up and it was fun. It makes my top list of the year- and my lack of enthusiasm is matched only by the lack of this years releases in cinematic blandness.

7.      Much Ado About Nothing:

Joss Whedon helmed this adaptation of Shakespeares’ comedy and it was excellent. Great cast, great score, and a terrific experience for me in the theater.

8.      Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugh

I don’t know where this film went wrong for me but it did. It still went into my top ten list, but it really didn’t have a lot of competition which is what you’ll find with a couple of the films I watched. But while I thought it was too long, the moments that worked were well worth it.

9. Riddick:

brings the character back down to basics. Betrayed and left for dead on a hostile alien world, Riddick only peripherally addresses the previous entry in the series. It’s largely glossed over but does feature a nice cameo from Karl Urban. Once we’re left with Riddick and we’re alone, we get a lot of introspection from the character as he wonders if he lost his edge and whether he’d become “too civilized” and so on, so forth. Blood spills, flesh gets ripped, and so on so forth.

10.     Hatchet 3:

The first and second Hatchet films were ranked much higher than this one, and I didn’t get a chance to see this one in the theater. Lack of direction from Adam Green kind of doomed this one from the get go, but there were moments that truly worked and some awesome grue to be had by all. So it ranks up there for me.

It’s been a pretty bland year for me in regard to movies.

 And this is some pretty bland writing from me, but there you go and then you're gone.

47 Ronin: Kind of???? Maybe? sorta'?

7 Ronin

The legend of the 47 Ronin is a popular story of revenge and bushido (The code of the Samurai), and it has been popularized into various forms of entertainment in the Japanese culture. There have been multiple films, there have been several bunraku and kabuki performances dramatizing these events. And the events are as followed: A pair of young Daimyo are being given instruction to proper court etiquette when their instructor becomes cruel and brusque. One of the two young daimyo relents and offers a “gift”, the other remains true to himself and is provoked beyond endurance- he draws his dagger against the instructor within the home of the Shogunate. This unpardonable offense results in the Daimyo’s seppuku, his men are forbidden from seeking vengeance, and they are cast out as ronin. After nearly 2 years of planning, the 47 Ronin execute an attack that results in the instructors death and their own Seppukku. 46 die, the 47^th controversial figure remains alive and is pardoned. He watches over the tomb of the others until his death of old age- there was literally no family relationship between this Samurai and any of the others. There is a terrific movie regarding this legend- Chushingiri came out in the 60’s and features the late, great Toshiro Mifune.

Keanu Reeves also stars in a recent release of a film that bears the title of the “47 Ronin” but quickly splits into two very different and separate films- in the Keanu film, Kai is half-breed eta and shares a forbidden love with the Daimyo’s daughter. He’s on a fairly typical “hero-quest’ through myth and magic to ultimately rescue the princess from the vile clutches of an evil sorcerous and her own Lord. This plot line features some interesting special effects, decent cinematography, and a best foot forward effort on the part of Reeves who I’m sure the studio executives saw as the star of the film. This film wasn’t bad, had some good moments, and was a very westernized way of attempting to shoe-horn in that level of familiarity. The primary villain for Kai is the evil witch, fantastically played by Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim).

The other film is much better. It follows the story of the films real hero, Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada).He was the leader of the 47 Ronin from legend. His story is about honor, sacrifice, and duty. While he’s occasionally forced to interact with the story of Kai, Oishi sacrifices his reputation and comfort in order to remain true to Bushido. And while a few quick cuts managed to stifle the depths to which the story could have gone, I suppose better could not have been expected. It was kind of cool to see the Tengu in action, it was interesting to note the hengeyokai sorceress, and the final revenge of the 47 is cool. Okay, I enjoyed most of the movie but I have an addendum.

If you decide to see this movie, you can literally skip the first ten to twenty minutes of footage and pick up where the Daimyo is ordered to commit seppuku. That’s when the movie becomes increasingly tolerable and pretty good. You just have to be willing to sit there and swallow huge heaping drops of manure on what is largely one of the most endearing stories of feudal Japan.

3 out of 5.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugh. (Or, It’s the second Hobbit movie.)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugh. (Or, It’s the second Hobbit movie.)

In what had been my most eagerly anticipated film of the year, Peter Jackson pretty much delivers on every expectation and then some. Wide sweeping action scenes, intensely emotional moments, and the ever present darkness of an impending threat all converge in the latest installation to the incredibly successful “Lord of the Rings” films- which is where the first problem begins for me. The first Hobbit had a good number of nods to the Trilogy, but this film full-out attempts to capture the tone and mood of those later films and it ultimately fails to be a “Hobbit” film as a result. Bilbo’s endeavors with the magic ring, only later identified as the “One” ring, are fraught with ominous peril and far too many jump-scares as the Eye already seems to begin the search that the later films are so dependent upon. Thorins’ hubris overwhelms the potential heroism of the character throughout the film- the tone captured at the end of the first film is completely lost within the first half hour. And, furthermore, scenes that should have had far more attention and time to develop much loved characters are rushed through while Jackson lingers on long moments in River Town and a number of scenes with Orcs to show us how vicious and angry they all are- or something. Beorn barely makes his presence felt, the journey through the forest barely touches on the various dangers the Dwarves and their Hobbit burglar face, and the movie just goes on and on and on.

I would normally respond quite well to the length of a film of this magnitude, but the whole thing results in what is essentially a tease. There’s no closure- it’s not like a cliffhanger, either. The movie just abruptly ends with an impending doom. There’s a sense in most second films in a trilogy to leave the heroes wounded, broken, and battered- but there’s essentially a bit of closure to the chapter and we’re just waiting for the heroes to get up again. That’s not the case with this film. The heroes aren’t broken, we’re not waiting for them to get up, we’re just left waiting- and that’s not a good thing. I don’t mind that the story isn’t complete, I mind that the chapter is left open and I have to wait a year for the end and then for the next chapter to begin. And I’ve read the book, so I know how the chapter should have ended and I know how the next chapter begins, and I know what the big looming darkness is and how it’s met.

Peter Jackson may have received instructions from up on high for the film to be closer to Lord of the Rings, but he should have fought a little harder and reminded the studio that the Hobbit is essentially a childrens’ book. It’s not the sweeping epic the latter books were, it’s not as dark, it’s not as threatening, and it requires a lighter touch. That’s not to say the film was a total failure, however- far from it. It's an amazing film. There are some amazing moments! The Barrel chase is a thing of absolute beauty, the introduction of Tauriel as a female elf interested in the Dwarves and their quest was a nice touch and allowed Jackson to bring in the wildly popular Legolas for support, and the presentation of Smaugh was as grand and amazing as it should have been. Far more of the film worked than didn’t so I do recommend it.

4 out of 5.

Be Kind, please rewind... VHS/2.!

V/H/S/2

Checking the credits and- YES! There’s no involvement from my arch-nemesis this time around, so I can sit back and try to enjoy the latest in the anthology series without worrying that Ty West will pop his head around the corner to ruin my film watching experience. It’s a fun little anthology premise and the story wrap-around seems to have a much more cohesive narrative than the previous entry so let’s just keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

The wraparound features a pair of private detectives hired by the mother of a missing teen to check on his welfare. They locate his house, stacked high with video tapes and monitors and other equipment but no sign of the teen. One of the detectives sits to watch the series of tapes, while the other continues to check out the house for any additional clues. The story is generally creepy and the tension builds with each successive tape, and the handheld camera techniques are actually pretty smooth without too much of the “shaky” cam effect so successfully parodied by that one South Park episode. That one cracks me up… and this story actually cracked me up. More on that later, though.

The first story features a character receiving an implant replacement to his left eye. The lead lost his eye is in an accident that never gets a fully fleshed story. He’s seeing phantoms, though and these ghosts seem to have gained the ability to interact with him through the implant as well. It’s a pretty short piece and would have worked better with some additional exposition, but the story in itself works very well. I’m not so sure the high-tech eye implant really does much to further the “VHS” themed narrative, but it was a good story either way.

The second story is my favorite by far. A young man takes to a biking trail for a morning ride only to be attacked by zombies. Yes, I know many people are just going to dismiss this because they know my affinity for zombies but that was actually the least interesting aspect of the story in general. This film take the best advantage of the VHS theme by giving our lead a helmet cam and establishing that he enjoys recording these morning rides. It’s a digital recording but I can really forgive that, because it’s the one video that seems to have the most legitimately “filmed for home use” feel to it. As the lead character goes through his ordeal, we establish who he is and we understand what is happening to him and we are able to slide ourselves into his shoes for a long period of time. There’s a sense of riding along in his head for long moments, living through his experiences, and the end is ultimately the most perfect one that could be imagined. This short made the whole movie worth-while.

The third story is longer- and maybe too long. A group of investigative journalists are doing an in depth piece on a cult in some unnamed Asian or Asian Pacific compound and- I don’t want to spoil anything, but the whole thing sort of builds to a predictable climax and is both the most entertaining and most fiercely annoying “short” in the film. Actually, most of the movie is this short and it’s got the added promise of coming to us from the team that brought us “The Blair Witch Project”… great gory effects, some interesting concepts, but probably one of the single doofiest monsters I’ve ever seen in the last revealing shot. I couldn’t stop laughing and had to stop the film because of how moronically stupid the monster looked. Still, there were momentary sequences and blips throughout the story to give a person some decent nightmares through the night.

The final story is probably the weakest and most overblown. It establishes the first person narrative to be coming from a “doggy-cam” attached to a mini pooch that the family members use to spy on one another and play pranks and all that kind of stuff. Some teens have a slumber party, the dog wanders about with a couple of bits leading up to an alien invasion. Yes, an alien invasion that features a bunch of grey-skinned, thin, creeping “monsters” that pose elaborately as they approach whoever might be dragging the dog along with an eruption of electro-bass audio looped back on itself while too-bright lights flash in the background to frame the aliens in shadowy outline. We get that same jump scare eruption of sound at least five separate times.

My final thoughts on the film are this: it’s not nearly as serious an attempt as the last one. There were some serious scares in the previous entry, an attempt to utilize the restrictive thematic structure to create an interesting dynamic but this one seems to flout those limits and dismiss them at a whim. There’s massive use of digital after-effects in some of the shorts, they don’t tend to utilize an actual VHS recorder in nearly any of the shorts, and nearly every film has some sort of a “punchline” for its finale. They seem to be played for laughs rather than for scares, which is well and good if that’s what you want to sell or buy. It just didn’t seem to be following the narrative established in the previous film in the anthology series. I recommend it for a good Halloween fright flick this season, it’s fun, and there’s a lot worse you could do. The “Ride in the Park” is probably worth the time in and of itself, but it seems to go downhill from there. The wraparound story itself followed the entire structure of the film… it started off strong, it was building a decent tension, and then it finished with what amounted to a punchline that fell a little flat for me. There was a visual effect in this movie that seemed plastic and fake, especially under the lights of the shakey-cam effect we were seeing it.

4 out of 5.

Pontypool at the Stardust Theater.

Pontypool Changes Everything

At least that’s the title of the original book upon which the stage play is based. And the stage play is based upon the movie, and a radio drama has also been released, and so on so forth and again. It’s quickly becoming one of the most oft adapted fictions of the modern era, and that’s pretty impressive to be honest.  I’m a big fan of low budget minimalist pictures, so this one had been on my radar from shortly before it’s official release on film. It’s an interesting little story, with a bizarre premise, and a minimalist approach to the zombie apocalypse reminiscent of the original zombie film; Night of the Living Dead. Instead of a lone farm house and a group of survivors, we’re trapped in a radio station with minimal staff that includes an aging former shock jock, his producer, and the lone radio technician. And when the poop hits the fan, we’re not left with a traditional horde of flesh eating zombies either- they’re infected people (conversationalists) driven to blood-thirsty acts through the usage of “language”… yes, you read that right. Language is the means through which the virus is spread.

Now, first off: if you think the premise is too bizarre, then let me put you on pause. Language IS an infection- it’s not just a means of communication, it’s not just a series of sounds that come out of the human mouth. It’s an understanding, a way of defining our world, and a means through which people can convey thoughts, emotions, logic, and understanding. The words I’m writing this very moment are having an effect on my own mind, echoing my thoughts as I think them but also reflecting them back to myself to check for comprehension and understanding. It may seem like a lot of “blah blah” to you, but the truth is that if you are reading my thoughts you are also being infected by them and by the verbiage and translation within your own minds. And my words are also being infected by your own understanding of them. The story regarding the “Tower of Babel” is very much a reflection of this same idea. For a slightly goofier yet probably far easier to understand translation of what this infection might be like, you could listen to the song “Bulbous Bouffant” which is just a series of words that the singers find impressive, amusing, and fascinating. There is no true meaning to the words being shouted out through the song, the meaning is totally lost, but the song is highly entertaining nonetheless.

Enough ranting on the whole idea behind hte show...

The set is amazing! Right off the bat, you immediately feel like you are occupying the very real fourth wall of this small radio station in the rural hinterlands of Canada. The community bulletin board in the lobby offers a number of hints to the characters involved and they are very real within the confines of the set. This is their world. And the cast never lets you forget it once they hit the stage.

Grant Mazzy takes to the microphone with an opening monologue regarding the story of a local missing cat. And there are interesting coincidences regarding a series of words, jumbled together, connected, a strong foreshadowing of what's to come but more importantly a peek into our protagonist. Patrick Golden puts another notch into his acting credits with a strong, often amusing, and very charismatic performance. He captures the "outlaw" shock jock personality of our lead and pushes him into small communty that seems to box him in from all sides.

Opposite Golden is Beverly Van Pelt as the station manager, Sidney Briar. She's the anchor to Mazzy's desire to shake up his audience. She knows the town and the people. The tension between her and Mazzy carries much of the drama, the events transforming them both, and Van Pelt captures the heart of the show in her performance. There's one moment where my heart literally ached for her character; a sobering phone call that reminds the audience of the world beyond our fourth wall and that these events will ripple far beyond our brief moments in ths small town radio station.

And then there's Laurel-Anne, a resourceful technician recently returned from a military tour in Afghanistan. She's amused with Mazzy's on-air hijinks and has a close working relationship with Briar. She often seems caught between the two, and Molly Lindquists' performance is endearingly playful as she chuckles through the banter of her boss and the talented man behind the microphone.

The trio are joined by traffic reporter Ken Loney (Jesse Juarez) through phone call updates and then by  Doctor Mendez in person, his arrival coming on the heels of the event that spirals out of control. Other calls flow into the station, various reported incidents, and then there's Mazzy's own personal run in with a strange woman on his way to work.

Highly recommended show for the Halloween season and a terrific exploration on the effects of language in our society. 5 out of 5.

The Rocky Horror Show at the Paper Wing Theater-

LJ Brewer. 

No, that's not a typo or an incomplete thought- that's just the first thing I needed to type. That's it. The name. And now I have more to say about the show-

You want to talk about all the terrific performances from the show, but the honest truth is that it’s hard to start writing about The Rocky Horror Show without focusing so much of your attention on the shows lead player. It’s the defining role of the show, it’s an iconic character, and LJ Brewer brings Frankenfurter to life and utterly blows (pun intended) each and every audience away with the performance. The moment before he struts onto the stage the entire tone shifts and you can feel an absolutely electrical moment shiver through the crowd (with anticipation, yes, I know). You can just suck in the energy from the players on the stage to the customers in the seats to the band and everywhere in between as Frank takes his place in front of the stage lights and hits the familiar notes and lyrics “Well how do you do?” At that moment, we’re all slaves to LJ Brewer and he can do whatever the hell he wants with each and every one of us. There is absolute power in the performance and LJ Brewer delivers with a charisma few ever hope to achieve.

But no matter how good he is, LJ Brewer is definitely not alone on the stage. And he’s also not the only one returning to a familiar role. Heather Hahn returns as Janet, carrying charm, comedy, and seduction in perfectly measured … uhhh.. .. (I can’t resist) cups. (I was going to go with levels, but I think some of this rant should have a little of pervisity in it.) Nicholas Kelly steps into the milquetoast shoes of Brad and this chalks up another fun performance from the veteran Winger. The young couple are on their way to see old friend, Dr. Scott (Shane Dallmann), when an unfortunate flat tire in the pouring rain leads them to follow a light toward the old spooky castle where events are about to unfold.

Frank is joined by his assistants, Riff Raff (Taylor Landess), Magenta (Jourdain Barton), and Columbia (Taylor Noel Young) in his mad plot to create a personal monster designed for his own particular interests. All details regarding The Denton Incident are explained by the knowledgeable  (and clearly neckless) Criminologist, Jay Devine. Everyone rises to the occasion and delivers a number of great performances, comedic timing, and they’ve been well prepared for the audience participatory “shout outs” during the performance with enough pauses  to allow people to feel as if they were part of the experience themselves.

And that’s what Rocky Horror is: An Experience. It’s not a traditional show, it’s not just people on stage doing their thing and then receiving applause- everyone is being let it on the jokes, on the moments, and it’s something audiences get to share with the performers. I don’t know anyone who delivers the goods as well as this Theatre, and anyone missing out is really going to be missing out. The show runs throughout October, playing Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm with a special Midnight show on Saturdays. There are also two shows on Halloween- the 8 pm and Midnight shows. Costumes are encouraged, props encouraged, and riffing (shout outs) virtually in demand. Casts members are willing to take photos in the lobby, but photography during the show itself is prohibited. Additionally, this is not a “shadow cast” performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, this is the stage production without the film screening in the background. Be prepared for something a little different in what is normally so very familiar so very many … who are… familiar… with… well, anyway, I think you get the point, yes?

(In the interest of full disclosure: I had the opportunity two years previously to be a part of the Rocky Horror Show with the Paper Wing Theatre as one of the Transylvanians. I had a blast during that particular performance and many of the players from that show have returned for this round. Maybe you think that will color my opinion or my recommendation. Fair enough. None-the-less, there are many ways to perform the show and there were obvious changes to direction and style from the last time. So this was a new experience entirely for me AND I don’t really believe that my previous experiences disqualify my opinions. I’m just sharing some thoughts on local shows and I’ll just keep on doing it my way.–Mark)